2015 - 2020: Youth Business Europe

Youth Business Europe was YBI’s regional programme, supported by the Citi Foundation, to help young entrepreneurs to start or grow a business.

The five-year-long Youth Business Europe (YBE) programme (2015 – 2020) was an ambitious partnership between Youth Business International (YBI) and Citi Foundation, designed to tackle the prevalent problem of youth unemployment in Europe.

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Youth Business Europe

In 2015, Youth Business International and Citi Foundation launched Youth Business Europe, a five-year regional programme to support young people to start, grow and sustain their business. Through this partnership, we worked with the Citi Foundation to tackle youth unemployment and drive sustainable economic growth across Europe.

Programme overview

The programme was designed to increase the number of vulnerable youth successfully starting sustainable businesses and creating new jobs. Through targeted country-level projects selected and implemented under a strategic learning agenda and rooted in cross-sector collaboration, the programme layed the foundation for a youth entrepreneurship ecosystem in selected countries across the region.

Our regional approach enabled 11 YBI member organisations to work closely together and share knowledge, best practices and methodologies with the aim of tackling youth unemployment in Europe, Russia and Kazakhstan.

Programme Impact

Over the course of the programme, 11 members supported more than 38,000 young people to:

  • Start or strengthen 11,000 businesses
  • Create 8,000 new jobs

YBI members were able to expand their offerings and forge valuable new connections, and Citi employees reported multiple benefits from their involvement in the initiative.

Find out more about the programme and its impact below:

Member Organisations

 

Inner City Enterprise

Ireland

Most Business Incubator

Kazakhstan

Youth Business Spain

Spain

Qredits

Netherlands

POSITIV

France

NyföretagarCentrum Sverige

Sweden

KIZ Sinnova

Germany

MicroLab

Italy
Zdenek Turek Europe Cluster Head and CEO Citibank Europe Plc

“Investing in today’s youth is critical to the health of society and the economy. Targeted programs like Youth Business Europe have helped young people to develop new businesses that have positively contributed to economic growth and social wellbeing. In these more than three years of partnership we supported more than 13,000 young people creating more than 3000 jobs; over 3,500 youth-led businesses have been started or strengthened; and over 1,000 young entrepreneurs have been provided with business mentoring. Our partnership with YBI, under our Pathways to Progress initiative, will continue to build on our achievements and set more young people on a sustainable economic path.”

Our Funders

Citi Foundation

Citi Foundation

Citi Foundation Supported YEP member Aliança Emprendedora to strengthen its network of partner organisations that allowed scaling the programme across Brasil and funded three research studies on effective strategies for scale, effectuation methodology and the digital landscape for youth entrepreneurs.

Resources

 

Publications

Youth Business Europe Programme - Impact Report

News

The network effect across Europe

News

Mariia Plotkina wins the Young Female Entrepreneur of the Year Award

News

Youth Business International and the Citi Foundation launch award to celebrate young women entrepreneurs in Europe

News

YBI and the Citi Foundation renew their commitment to support low-income young entrepreneurs across Europe

News

Winners of YBI’s annual awards announced

News

YBI Member in Sweden holds annual Enterprise Fair

Blogs

Q&A: Citi employee shares insights into being a business mentor

Blogs

Celebrating innovation across the YBI network

Blogs

Successful Innovation Winner - Business transfer marketplace

Blogs

Learning, knowledge and innovation through regional European workshops

Blogs

Pitch Nights as a tool to strengthen entrepreneurial networks

Blogs

Christoph Schlüter shares his experience of being a business mentor

Blogs

Innovation Challenge - An update on the winners' progress

Blogs

Supporting entrepreneurship in a rapidly-changing labour market

Blogs

Accreditation of Youth Business Germany

Download the report

Over the course of the programme, 11 members supported more than 38,000 young people to start or strengthen 11,000 businesses and 8,000 new jobs were created. YBI members were able to expand their offerings and forge valuable new connections, and Citi employees reported multiple benefits from their involvement in the initiative.

English

Those who make it possible

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IKEA Foundation

IKEA Foundation

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Enel

Enel

Citi Foundation

Citi Foundation

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